Brush construction



' Feb. 24, 1959 s; \FRIEDMAN 2,874,399 BRUSH CONSTRUCTION Filed JuZLy29, 1953 INVENTOR. 50LOM0/V F/Y/EDMQ BY I Maw TTOP/VEYS.

United States Patent "ice 2,874,399 BRUSH CONSTRUCTION Solomon Friedman,Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to The Osborn Manufacturing Company,Cleveland, 01110, a corporation of Ohio Application July 29, 953, SerialNo. 371,042

1 Claim. (Cl-.- 15-169) This invention relates as indicated to novelbrush construction, and more particularly to certain types of endbrushes, usually hand brushes such as glue and paint brushes.

The usual hand brushes for applying glue, for example, comprise a tuftor bundle of bristles, the butt ends of which may be set in rubber orthe like and secured within an annular metal ferrule fixed to the end ofa wooden handle. In order to obtain certain desired degrees offlexibility of the bristle material in use, it has become customary toprovide a bridle in the form of a twisted wire ring encircling thebundle of bristles at a point spaced from the ferrule usually aboutone-third the length of the exposed bristle tuft from such ferrule. Thewire is wrapped tightly around the bundle of bristles and may beretained in position by means of metal tabs secured in the ferrule andclinched over the loop of wire. Such bridles are expensive ofmanufacture for the reason that they are applied by hand, involvingseveral operations, and furthermore the attainable results arerestricted to those producible by a fairly tightly wrapped bridle. Thebundle of bristles is of necessity tightly compacted in the region ofsuch bridle, restricting the flexing of the bristles between the bridleand the ferrule more than may ordinarily be desired. The principalreason for desiring a bridle at all is to obtain adequate control of thebundle of bristles in use when the latter is employed for theapplication of glue, for example, or subjected to a scrubbing action inthe application of paint to a stencil while at the same time permittinga degree of flexibility to the inner portions of the bristlesintermediate the bridle and ferrule. As above indicated, the usualbridle falls short of achieving this principal objective.

Such glue brushes and also the usual paint brushes have another commonfailing in that after having been used for a period glue or paint orother brush-applied materials tend to accumulate between the.bristles inthe region adjacent the ferrule, and this material is'seldom entirelyremoved by the usual cleaning operations. Accordingly, this portion ofthe bristle body shortly becomes stifi and substantially rigid, greatlychanging the action of the brush in use. In consequence, many paintbrushes are thrown away long before they are worn out. Ohviously it isdesirable to prevent this to the extent possible.

In view of the foregoing, it is one of the objects of my invention toprovide a novel bridle for hand brushes which will adequately supportthe brush material in use while at the same time affording the desireddegree of flexibility and relative movement to the inner end portions ofthe bristles.

A further object is to provide a drip lip for my new bridle which willassist in guarding against the tendency of paint to flow back to theinner end portions of the bristles and stiffen the same where exposed inthe region intermediate the bridle and ferrule.

Other objects will appear as the description proceeds.

Patented Feb. 24', 1959 To the accomplishment of the foregoing andrelated ends, said invention then comprises the features hereinafterfully described and particularly pointed out in the claim, the followingdescription and the annexed drawing sitting'forth in detail certainillustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative,however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of theinvention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 illustrates a painters brush with a removable bridle embodying myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the Fig. l assembly showing the hinge on suchbridle;

Fig. 3 is a view of the other side of the Fig. 1 assembly showing thecatch on such bridle.

Referring now more particularly to said annexed drawing, the embodimentthere illustrated shows a paint brush, chip brush or the like having awooden handle portion 2'? to which brush material 28 is secured withinthe usual sheet metal ferrule 29. The sheet metal bridle membercomprises two portions 30 and 31 hingedly joined at 32 and embracingferrule 29. An ordinary snap catch 33 may be provided at the other sideof the brush from hinge 32 to secure the bridle in place. Holes such as34, 35 and 36 are punched in the bridle in longituclinal alignment toreceive dimples such as 37 struck up from ferrule 29, thereby to, retainthe bridle member in a selected adjusted position relative to theferrule and the brush material protruding therefrom.

Not only is the bridle member obviously of somewhat larger dimensionsthan the ferrule 2% for the greater part of its extent, but also lateralregions 38 and 39 may be deformed outwardly so as not to bear againstand restrict movement of the brush bristle material where the latterenters the ferrule. The true bridle is formed by the some what moreconstricted neck portion 40, preferably having an outwardly flaring driplip 41, and this neck may be dimensioned to afford the degree ofrestriction to brush bristle movement desired. In contrast to bridlespreviously employed in the art, however, I prefer that such bridleshould not tightly constrict the brush bristle ma terial, at least notto an extent preventing relative move-' ment of the inner end portionsof the bristles. If de-, sired, a rubber band may be snapped aroundconstricted neck 49 of the bridle to supplement catch 33. Also, thebridle may be wrapped in masking tape, if desired, likewise to hold thesame in closed position and facilitating cleaning of the bridle afteruse since the tape may merely be stripped therefrom.

Since the bridle illustrated in the drawing is adapted for axialadjustment as desired, a varying degree of effective bristle length maybe obtained, yet without unduly compressing such bristles in the regionof the bridle proper.

The ferrule and bridle will ordinarily be of thin sheet metal butobviously certain plastic or fiber sheet material may instead beemployed.

I have thus provided a novel brush assembly including a bridle which isadapted to leave the inner end portions of the brush bristles free for acertain degree of interaction while at the same time surrounding andcontrolling suchbrush material in a region spaced from the ferrule. Thebridle may be made both adjustable and removable as shown, facilitatingcleaning of the brush and permitting the obtaining of various degrees ofstiffness of the brush material. My new construction is useful not onlywith glue brushes but also with certain stencil bnlshes, paint andvarnish brushes, and chip brushes, for example.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed,change being made as regards the details described, provided thefeatures stated in the following claim or the equivalent of such beemployed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

In a hand brush having an elongated handle, a bundle of brush bristlematerial extending axially therefrom, and a sheet metal ferruleencircling one end of said handle and one end of said bundle of brushmaterial with the latter protruding therefrom; a sheet metal bridleclosely encircling said ferruleand extending therebeyond to contact andrestrain said brush bristle material, said bridle comprising twohingedly connected portions, snap means adapted to secure said portionstogether embracing said ferrule, said bridle being provided with aplurality of small openings and said ferrule with correspond ingprotuberances adapted to interengage to hold said ferrule in selectedadjusted axial position relative to said ferrule, the sides of saidbridle in the region directly overlying said brush bristle materialbeing deformed outwardly to avoid engagement with said brush bristlematerial, and a constricted neck at the extreme end of said bridleadapted to embrace said brush bristle material and restrict movementthereof without tightly compressing the same, said constricted neckportion terminating in an outwardly flaring peripheral flange adapted toserve as a drip lip and a retainer means for a rubber band or othersecuring means which may be placed thereabout.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 74,224Hergesheimer Feb. 11, 1868 107,200 Shuttleworth Sept. 6, 1870 801,027Lockery Oct. 3, 1905 1,390,881 Cantor Sept. 13, 1921 2,345,991 RishelApr. 4, 1944 2,419,899 Kantor Apr. 29, 1947

